Commission redraws avian influenza zones in five member states until late November

The European Commission has redrawn the EU’s avian influenza restriction map, keeping protection and surveillance measures in place until as late as 30 November 2026 after new outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands, alongside continuing outbreaks in Bulgaria. The change is set out in Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2026/2483 of 30 October 2026, published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 5 November 2026 and notified under document C(2026) 7900. The decision replaces the annex to Implementing Decision (EU) 2023/2447, the EU’s standing emergency framework for HPAI.

Implementing Decision (EU) 2023/2447 rests on the Animal Health Law, Regulation (EU) 2016/429 — the decision cites its Article 259(1) — and is completed by Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/687, whose Article 21 requires the competent authority to establish a restricted zone comprising a protection zone and a surveillance zone around any outbreak of a category A disease. Under Articles 2 to 4 of the 2023 decision, the measures applied in those zones must be maintained at least until the dates listed in the annex. That annex was last amended by Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2026/2395 of 22 October 2026, itself prompted by an outbreak in Bulgaria.

The Commission justifies the update on trade grounds: HPAI, it notes, can have a severe impact on the profitability of poultry farming, causing disturbance to trade within the Union and to exports to third countries, while the presence of the virus in wild birds — particularly during the autumn migration — poses a continuous threat of introduction into holdings. Laying the zones down rapidly at Union level is presented as the way to prevent unnecessary disturbance to intra-EU trade and unjustified restrictions imposed by third countries.

The outbreaks behind the update

Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands notified the Commission of new outbreaks in holdings keeping poultry, and each applied the control measures required by Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/687, including the establishment of protection and surveillance zones.

• Denmark: three outbreaks, in the municipalities of Slagelse, Lolland and Guldborgsund.
• Germany: two outbreaks, both in the state of Schleswig-Holstein.
• Netherlands: three outbreaks, in the Groningen and Noord-Holland provinces.

The Commission examined those measures and says it is satisfied that the zone boundaries sit at a sufficient distance from the affected establishments. None of the three member states had areas listed as protection and surveillance zones in the annex before this decision.

Protection zones: three-kilometre radius

Protection zones are drawn as circles of 3 km radius around each confirmed outbreak, with country-specific end dates:

• Denmark: Slagelse until 18 November 2026; Lolland until 20 November; Guldborgsund until 18 November.
• Germany: Kreis Segeberg until 15 November 2026; Kreis Schleswig-Flensburg until 16 November.
• Netherlands: parts of Fryslân and Groningen until 17 November 2026; Noord-Holland until 17 November; Groningen until 19 November.
• Bulgaria: settlements in Rakovski, Kaloyanovo, Maritsa and Stara Zagora municipalities, with dates running from 3 November to 21 November 2026.

Surveillance zones run to the end of November

Surveillance zones, built on a 10 km radius and covering the area beyond the protection zone, carry the longest deadlines in the annex:

• Denmark: Slagelse and Næstved until 27 November 2026; Lolland until 29 November; Guldborgsund until 27 November.
• Germany: Kreis Segeberg and Kreis Stormarn until 24 November 2026; Kreis Schleswig-Flensburg and Kreis Nordfriesland until 25 November.
• Netherlands: Fryslân, Groningen and Noord-Holland zones until 26 and 28 November 2026.
• Bulgaria: surveillance zones in the Plovdiv and Stara Zagora regions until 29 and 30 November 2026, the latest date fixed in the text.
• Belgium: two non-poultry surveillance zones around Alken–Tongeren and Balen–Mol, applicable until 6 November 2026.

No further restricted zones are listed: Part C of the annex records “none”.

Why it matters

The decision is addressed to the member states and is meant to take effect as soon as possible, given what the Commission calls the urgency of the epidemiological situation. For operators inside the listed areas, it fixes at EU level the movement and biosecurity restrictions already applied nationally under Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/687, giving exporters and trading partners a single common reference until the dates in the annex.

The text carries EEA relevance and was backed by the opinion of the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed; it was signed for the Commission by Olivér Várhelyi. By consolidating the zones in one annex rather than allowing national measures to diverge, the Commission keeps restrictions regionalised, with the stated aim of shielding unaffected parts of the four affected member states from blanket bans. With the autumn migration under way and the annex amended repeatedly since the summer, further revisions before the end of November are likely.

Source: Official Journal of the European Union, L 2026/2483, 5 November 2026, p. 1–9 (official reference: CELEX 32026D2483).